Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Aug 1996
Continuous renal replacement therapy in critically ill patients: monitoring circuit function.
There is currently no universally accepted method to monitor circuit function or guidelines for circuit replacement during continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRT). The objectives of this study were to diagnose the causes of circuit failure, identify factors responsible for circuit clotting and determine a predictive monitor of circuit function. The CRRT technique used in this study was continuous venovenous haemodialysis (CVVHD). ⋯ In any circuit an increase of 26 mmHg or more in the transfilter pressure gradient accurately predicted circuit failure due to clotting and imminent cessation of function. Increases in platelet count, haematocrit, and low circuit flows are important determinants of haemofilter life. The measurement of transfilter pressure gradient across the haemofilter is an accurate bedside monitor of circuit function.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Aug 1996
Audit of unbooked paediatric post-anaesthesia admissions to intensive care.
We performed an audit of booked and unbooked admissions to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) after anaesthesia over a 19 month period in order to determine whether unbooked admissions were predictable, or whether there were any preventable anaesthetic factors responsible for PICU admission, and to evaluate the necessity of PICU admission in all study patients. Data was collected from the PICU database and from the medical records, especially the anaesthesia records, of unbooked admissions. ⋯ There was an appropriate use of intensive care resources by these unbooked patients, with 77% having PICU-specific therapies (compared with 88% of booked cases). This quality assurance tool was relatively easy to perform, however it has numerous limitations hampering future routine use.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Aug 1996
Comment Letter Comparative StudyInhaled prostacyclin (PGI2) versus nitric oxide (NO)